Sickle-bearing for mowers



J. L. TANDY.

SlCKLE-,BEARING FOR MOWEBS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 2L. 1919.

1,381,51 8,v Patented June 14, 1921.

A TTOR; Y

UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. TANDY, OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA.

SICKLE-BEARING FOR MOWERS.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN L. TANDY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Tulsa, in the county of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Sickle-Bearings forAMowers, of which the following is a specisible position to cuteectively and to retain the sharpness of their cutting edges. Anotherobject is to produce bearings -having` square hard-metal wear plates totake the backward thrust of the sickle sections to minimize thefrictional resistance and lengthen the period of service of thestructure. A further object is to produce a bearingproviding 'for suchladjustment of the square bearingplates asto dispose the lower half ofeither of the four edges of suoli plates for receiving the thrust of thesickle sections and for the inversion of such plates to present theother halves of their edges to such thrust; thereby utilizing suchplates for octuple service. A further object is to produce a bearinghaving kan oiling chainber for supplying oil to the friction points andmeans for preventing the clogging of the feed of oil from said chamber.A still further obj ect is to provide a bearing having an oiling chamberprovided with a cover of such character that the pressure of grain beingcut tends to retain it securely in position. Y

`With these objects in view the invention consists in certain novel andpeculiar features of construction and organization of v parts ashereinafter described and claimed;

and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to vbe had'tothe accomvpanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1, is a fragmental plan view of a sickle bar embodying myinvention, one part of the improvement being broken away and anotherpart omitted.

Fig. 2is a central vertical transverse section of Fig. 1.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 14, Application filed`.Tilly 21, 191,9. Serial No. 312,240.

Fig. 4, is a cross section taken through the stem of the bearing.

In the said drawing, 1 indicates the finger bar of the mower and 2 thefingers bolted as at 3 to said finger bar, retaining nuts t engaging thelower ends of the bolts 3.

5 is the sickle bar arranged in front of and parallel with the fingerbar and equipped with the usual sickle sections 6 for shear action uponthe ledger plates 7 secured to the lingers, the cutting edges of thesickle sections operating as usual in the bifurcations 8 of the fingers.

Occasional pairs of adjacent bolts 3 are utilized to secure my improvedsickle bearings iii place, usually there will be about six of thesesickle bearings, one only being shown. T he bearings in plan viewapproximate the letter T iii forni, and the bolts of adjacent fingers,extend through short slots 9 in the ends of vthe head portion of thebearing, thelatter being mounted upon a thin wearing plate 9aM iittedupon the finger VYbar and project-ing slightly forward of the same andengaging the lower sides of adj acent sickle sections 6 as customary.The head portion of the bearing is formed inidway between the slots witha raised portion 10 formed lin its underside with a rectangular chamberor recess 11 wherein snugly fits a square wearing plate 12 forengagement by the rear edges of the adjacent sickle sections-6, it beingnoted that the front wall of the chamber or recess 11 is preferablywider than the other walls butk does not depend the full depth of plate12 and constitutes in conjunction with the opposing edge of plate 12 andthe adjacent edge of wearing plate 9a, a channel wherein the rear edgesof ad- Y jacent sickle sections are free to reciprocate, it being notedhowever, that the wall 13 is slightly spaced above the sickle sectionsso to have no frictional contact therewith.

The stein portion 14 of the T-shaped bearing projects forwardly to apoint between the adjacent fingers, and its front end is .tapered as at15 at the top and sides to facilitate its passage through grain andstubble, audit is also formed with a recess 16, as hereinafter moreparticularly referred to.

The'stem is provided near its front end with a threaded opening 1f?having vertical recesses 18 at diametrically opposite points. Fig. 3, isan inverted plany view of my` imlproved bearing, with certain partsomitted.VV

19 is anclampingV screw engaging said opening 17 and the underlyingsickle section, to

hold the latter flatly downv upon the adjacent ledger plates, saidclamping screw being adjustable to take up wear between the sicklesection and the ledger plates. The customary kerf in the upper end ofthe clamping screw whereby it can be conveniently turned by means of ascrew driver, is engaged by a cross pin 20 fitting at its opposite endsin the recesses 18, the arrangement being such that the pin acts to lockthe clamping screw against accidental rotation. The cross pin ispreferably of slightly inverted arched form so that its' central portioncan engage the kerf in the clamping screw when the lat ter has beenadjusted downward a considen able distance, without necessitatingmaterial up and down movement of the pin itself in the recesses 18.

Rearward of the clamping screw, the stein portion of the bearing isprovided with a chamber 21 for containing lubricating oil, and thebottom of the chamber has an oil hole 22 extending through the rib 13and enlarged at its lower end as at 23 so as to open against the frontedge of the bearing plate 12 as well upon the rear edge of theunderlying sickle section. At the front end of the oil chamber is an oilhole 24, and fitting in the chamber is a bent rod 26 terminating in Ydepending ends respectively'fitting loosely in the holes 22 and 2l, oneextremity of the rod being so bent as to guard against the accidentaldisengagement of such end from the oiling hole. This rod tends toagitate the oil under the vibratory action of the machine and thusprevent the oil holes from clogging. As a resultroil is fed from thechamber upon the rear edges of the adjacent sickle sections and thefront edge of the wearing plates 12 and upon the underlying wearingplate 9a. Oil also passes through the hole 211 upon theV sickle member`and will work to and around the clamping screw so that the point ofengagement between the latter and the sickle member shall belubriprovided with a pivoted handle 29 for con-- venience in securing itin and removing it from position, and the front end fits down into therecess 16, the purpose of the latter being to permit thecap to be slidback until.

its upper front edge is in substantially the same inclined plane as thefront end of the stem, and thus offer no abrupt surface for stubble orgrain to Vlodge upon, it being noted, however, that should stubble orgrain apply pressure on the cap in the progress of n mower 5 the machineacross the field, it will tend to hold the cap in position.

From the above description it will be apparent that l have produced adevice of the character described which possesses all the features ofadvantage set forth, and while I have described and claimed thepreferred embodiment of the same I reserve the right to make all changesproperly falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims andthe principle of construction involved.

l claim: Y

l; sickle hearing secured to the finger har of a mower and overlying thecutting mechanism thereof and provided with an inverted pocket, and ahard bearing plate fitting removably in said pocket to receive on itsfront edge the backward thrust of'sickle sections of the cuttingmechanism of the mower.

2. A sicklebearing secured to the finger bar of a mower and overlying'the cutting mechanism thereof and provided Awith an inverted pocket, anda hard bearing plate litting removably in said pocket to receive on itsfront edge the backward thrust of sickle setions of the cuttingmechanism of the the bearing having an oil chamber and an oiling holefor conductinnl lubricant from said chamber toA the contact between thesaid plate and sickle sections.

3. A sickle bearing secured to the finger bar of a mower and overlyingthe cutting mechanism thereof and provided with an inverted pocket, anda hard hearing plate fitting removably in said pocket to receive on itsfront edge Ythe backward thrust of sickle sections ofthe cuttingmechanism of the mower; the bearing havinglan oil chamber and an oilinghole for conducting lubricant from said chamber to the contact betweenthe said plate andvsickle sections, and means to keepsaid oiling holeopen. v

4c.V A sickle bearing secured to the llinger bar ol a mower andoverlying the cutting mechanism thereof and provided with an invertedpocket. and a hard bearing plate tting removably in said pocket toreceive on its front edge the backward thrust of sickle sections of thecutting mechanism ofthe mower; `the bearing having an oil chamber and anoiling hole for conducting lubricant from said chamber to the contactbetween the said plate and sickle sections, means to keep saidoilinghole open, and a cover for and removable from the bearing byforward slidable movement thereon.-

5. A sickle bearing secured to the finger bar of a mower and'overlyingthe cuttingV mechanism thereof, provided .with an inverted angularpocket,y thel frontv wall of which terminates in a plane above that ofthe cutting mechanism, and a hard bearing plate fitting in said pocket-and adapted to receive below said front wall of the packet the rearwardthrust of sickle sections of the cutting mechanism, said plate beingreversible to dispose an unworn edge to the thrust of the said sicklesections.

G. A sickle bearing havin@Y an inverted pocket oi square form with itsfront Wall shallower than the pocket, and a hard square bearing platelitt-ing in the pocket with the lower part oi" its front edge exposed bythe shallow trent wall of the pocket; said plate being reversible toexpose the other part of said edge below the front wall of the pocket.

7. sickle bearing having an inverted pocket ot' square forni with itsfront wall shallower than the pocket, and a hard square bearing platefitting in the pocket with the lower part oi its front edge exposed bythe shallow Jfront wall of the pocket; said plate being reversible toexpose the other part of said edge below the front wall or the pocket,and being' adjustable to face either of its other edges 'forwardly forexposure below the iront wall ot' the pocket.

8. A sickle bearing secured to the i'inger bar orn a mowing machine andoverlying cutting mechanism thereof and provided With a verticalthreaded opening` at its iront end, a threaded pin engaging said openingand be( ring upon the cutting bar of the mower, a cross pin fitting inthe upper end of the threaded pin and also fitting in andinterlockedwith the said bearing to prevent rotation of said pin, and means t'orcovering said pin and threaded pin.

9. The combination with a linger b'ar, lingers projecting therefrom, awearing plate on and projecting beyond the front edge of' the lingerbar, a reciprocating cutter bar comprising sickle sections for operaingthrough said fingers and on said wearing plate, a sickle bearing securedupon the wearing plate and provided with an arm projecting forwardlyover the cutter bar; said sickle bearing having an inverted pocket, anoil reservoir, a threaded opening torward of the reservoir, the lat-terhaving a pair oit oiling holes, one adjacent the threaded opening andthe other adjacent the front side oi' said pocket, a hard bearing platefitted in said pocket and receiving the thrust of the rear edge of thesickle sections or said cutting bar, a threaded pin in the said threadedopening and engaging' the upper face of said cutter bar, a cover for thereservoir and threaded opening, and a bent rod standing in the reservoirand having downturned ends respectively engaging said oiling holes.

In testimony whereof I athx my signature.

JOHN L. TANDY.

